As John Nichol, there were limits to what I could do-- I had to at least appear too be a law-abiding citizen. But Doctor Polaris had no limits. There was nothing he couldn't do. Nothing was forbidden to him! As Doctor Polaris I could become a Viking of the modern age, guided only by the pole star. And no rules could ever stand in my way again.

Contents

History

John Nichol never was fond of rules and he believed from an early age that only weak people obey them like sheep. But, he wouldn't have gotten far in life if he didn't pretend he was a law-abiding citizen himself.

Butcher of the Boardroom

After finishing business school the easy way, he got a job at Sextant Industries by lying in his résume, and doing anything in his power to get ahead.

Still, with his new job, Nichol felt he missed something in his life. Until he attended a book lecture of Neal Emerson, the original Doctor Polaris.
Emerson taught that by harnessing the power of magnetism, a man could achieve his full potential.

Nichol learned that there was nothing wrong with his bold approach to life. He quickly bought all of Emerson's books and CD's, and within six weeks Nichol began to develop his own powers.

As his powers grew, Nichol began to devise uses for them Emerson had never imagined.
Accidentally, Nichol killed a co-worker during an argument by altering the magnetic field in the man's brain, creating a deadly electrical current. Doctors mistook the murder for a death by stroke.

Nichol grew bolder and his business deals went far. The Sextant board of directors called him to an emergency board meeting and demanded his resignation, intending to turn him in to the S.E.C..

Nichol wouldn't let that happen and used his powers to engineer a gas explosion to kill the entire board.

Six years later, he was in full control of Sextant Industries and immediately moved the entire company to Mexico, where the labor was cheaper, the police easier bought and environmental laws didn't exist. Nichol was settled for life if he wanted.

Monopolies

He began to augment his mental powers with technology stolen from S.T.A.R. Labs, Lexcorp and the US Army.
But, the real price was too well guarded by the US Military and had to wait.
With the help of The Crime Doctor, he got his hands on a special serum.
The serum taken as an injection gave a temporary power of Magnetic Manipulation, with lethal results. While the serum was far too lethal to be used, Nichol made an attempt to sell it to Intergang who eagerly funded the project.

Demanding results, Nichol sent for four of his labourers at his company over the border carrying guns and the serum. They were accompanied by Nichol's own daughter Mariposa, who didn't even know the others carried syringes.
Unknown to them, their boss sent them to become human test subjects to the serum once delivered.
This didn't go as planned and the group was arrested by the American border patrol The Vanguard.
Mariposa was almost killed after the Sextant workers injected the serum and escaped capture, as they feared their boss more then the authorities. But, they were later arrested by El Paso's local super hero the Blue Beetle.
Intergang started to lose faith in John Nichol and staged their own rescue mission to liberate the dying men from the hospital. The Blue Beetle managed to find them back, but as Nichol had made sure there was nobody around who knew enough to trace things back to his company.

Nichol now had anything he wanted out of Intergang. So, he created a deadly electrical current in Smith brain killing him instantly and made Smith's associates Fletcher and Bowser an offer they couldn't refuse.

Now on Nichol's payroll, Bowser was ordered to kill Mariposa. Fletcher was to monitor the other events in El Paso. At The Day Without Immigrants Protest, a large group of Syringes infected men breached the border and started to attack the protestants. That was enough to keep the local heroes and nearby state special forces occupied. It all served as a diversion to smuggle drugs and weapons over the border, or so it seemed.

Mariposa, who survived the assassination attempt, revealed her father's whereabouts.
The smuggling was the diversion when all eyes where on El Paso Polaris raided the military high energy testing facility White Sands at New Mexico.
He stole and injected the wanted Monopoles in his body. The monopoles weere super fluid, super conductive and have the ability to catalyse fusion reactions. Controlled by his magnetic powers, it could give him nearly invulnerable skin.

The Blue Beetle tried to stop him 10 minutes too late and was seemingly killed by Polaris. As the assassination attempt on his daughter failed, Nichol had no choice but to eliminate his former identity. He ordered Mr. Bowser to be killed and started to destroy his own company and the city around it. The Blue Beetle returned and configured his armor to emit a field of gluons discharging the monopoles in his body.
Mariposa and his employees were pushed too far by Nichol's antics and confronted Polaris saving the Blue Beetle in the process. The Blue Beetle managed to fully discharge Nichol's new enhancement.
Nichol was then arrested for stealing government secrets and turned in to the American government.

Nichol was killed when the former Doctor Polaris, Neal Emerson, ripped out his heart.[2]

Powers and Abilities

Powers

Magnetic Manipulation: Doctor Polaris can shape and manipulate electromagnetic fields that exist naturally or artificially, allowing him to lift and move heavy objects, control ferrous particles in the atmosphere, and even alter the Earth's magnetic field.

Electro-magnetic Spectrum Manipulation: ability to project or manipulate many forms of energy that are related to magnetism. He can fire bolts of electricity and create enough intense heat to destroy a metal door.

Magnetic Force-Fields': Doctor Polaris can erect electro-magnetic force fields with a high degree of impenetrability, protecting himself or others from almost any psionic, energy, or physical attack.

Flight: By creating an anti-gravity field around himself, Doctor Polaris possesses the ability to levitate, and inevitably fly at subsonic speeds reaching 500 mph.